September 15, 2009

Personal Icons

According to Emily Post, it is perfectly acceptable for an individual to adopt a symbol for use on their stationery. Granted, Emily places limits on the acceptability of this practice, limiting it to stationery used for one's country house, for young girls, etc. In any case, I think that it's a marvelous practice, one in which I myself indulged for a short time. At one point, I adopted the pineapple as my symbol, and though I still have many pieces of stationery with the symbol on it, I now use engraved correspondence cards for professional notes.

This lovely image arrived to me on a card from a pen pal. I don't think that my pal intends on making it his hallmark, but he wanted to send it to me in response to a letter I wrote him on the toile de jouy stationery I purchased while visiting Thomas Jefferson's home, Monticello. This icon is based on Martha Washington's writing desk at Mount Vernon. I just love it. The paper it is printed on is none too shabby, either.

Do you have a personal icon? What is it? If not, what would you like it to be?

Ah! I love the idea of the use of a pineapple as an icon! According to "tradition", colonists would give pineapples to visitors as gifts, which was generous since pineapples were imported and pricey. That's how pineapples became a symbol of welcome.

Eliza, Yes, that's exactly why I love using the symbol so much! Flowing from that tradition, the pineapple grew to become a symbol of generosity, as well. In my part of the U.S., the pineapple is an incredibly common motif, used as door knockers, napkin rings, column toppers, in crown molding, etc. That's one of my favorite parts about living on the East Coast, it's stocked with colonial heritage.